Scotland 4

Friday, 15 June

It is so lovely to be here with everyone. Ellie keeps rediscovering them (Unca Ben! Unca Ivan! Geese!) and enjoying their presence (Gah-ma! Guh-pa!). She loves her cousin, Arria (Why crying, cuzzin Reera?) and it is adorable to see the two babies together.

For the most part, we're all getting along very well, though my mother consistently and unintentionally sows chaos, as usual, and I find myself generally irritable and unpleasant. Paul too is exhausted and frequently seems to be moving in slow motion. Both girls continue to be amazing, though in need of some attention when tired.

The day started early, with en-suite cold breakfast at 6:30 and departure at 7:15 am. We didn't get to tour Inverary Castle, unfortunately, nor walk among the standing stones of Kilmartin.

We drove nearly 2 hours north and west to Oban, colloquially the capital of the western highlands and now my fantasy future home. Amazing scenery, water and mountains, islands and castles, ancient towers, a quaint little European city with broadband cafes, shopping, pubs.


In Oban we boarded a ferry - amazing scenery and fresh wind blowing on our faces - for a 40 minute journey to the Isle of Mull, where we climbed aboard a tour bus for the long drive across (half of) the island.

Way in the back of the bus, we couldn't hear a lot of the tour, but I enjoyed the bits I did hear. We saw a bronze age crannog in the middle of a small loch, which was Paul's favorite part of the day (I loved the ferry ride and Ellie loved the family proximity. Ada loved the extended nursing sessions on the bus and ferries).

Ferry-bus-ferry, and we were on Iona, the cradle of Scottish Christianity. (St. Columba came over from Ireland and founded a monastery on Iona, from which monks went forth to spread The Word throughout Caledonia.) This was the most important part of the trip for my dad.

We had lunch and attended a short worship service for peace and justice at the Abbey. (A service for peace and justice is pretty tough for someone with a lisp, my brother-in-law remarked. And, indeed, the officiate did have an impressive lisp.)

One of the highlights of my day was when we were waiting for a ferry back to Oban. Baby Arria was crying, and I had my niece in the sling while my sister held Ada, who was being sweetly quiet.

"What's wrong with your baby?" my sister asked me, loudly, in the middle of a large crowd of people.

"I don't know," I replied, patting the screaming baby strapped to me. "I'm just a terrible mother."

Hah!

Ferry-bus-ferry, and we were back in Oban to load up in the vans and drive back down to Dunoon for another terrific supper at the hotel. I had the "feathered fowlie" and Paul had the salmon; Ellie had pasta.

Have I described the hotel? The Enmore Hotel in Dunoon, overlooking the Clyde, is lovely. It's small and has a familial dining room, almost like a B&B. It's quite old, with creaky, uneven floors and threadbare carpets, but it's posh. The dining, especially, is first rate. Thanks to tips from my parents, I finally learned how to flush our toilet.

Also, both girls are doing great with the time change. And I complain about springing forward one measly hour at home . . .